Environmental Stewardship

A lot of the Charity’s work is dedicated to the management and conservation of some 170 acres of wonderful landscape around Walberswick village. 
Much of this is focused on the Common - the large NW area shown in red on the map below - but all of the Charity's land is actively looked after.

ES Update October 2026

   The Wet Heath almost dried out

September brought some welcome rain and what pleasure that brought after the long dry and very hot summer.  
Here in Walberswick a lot of people worked diligently to keep land, property and people safe both in the village and further afield.
It means that Cliff Field has not been cut yet and neither had much of the bracken on the dry heath. Hopefully, there will be catch up as soon as the contractor can squeeze us in.  

By the end of this month, WCLC hopes to have agreed a winter management plan which will include an awareness, and response to the predicted local impact of El Niño. 
For example, fire breaks will be enhanced by more rotavation to create bare soil; a bonus is that bare ground is a key habitat of heathland. It allows heather germination from seed and also provides nesting habitat for many insects, reptiles and birds such as the nightjar. 
A number of insects use open areas for nesting, chasing after prey and basking. Sand lizards use bare sandy ground for egg laying. Annual plants growing on disturbed ground provide some pollen and nectar for insects when heather is not in flower.
Local to global and global to local, the relationships and interdependencies are clear.

Vanessa Tucker

 Wild Carrot thriving on the King Charles 111 footpath     

  Heather regeneration on the dry Heath

For well over 15 years we have worked in partnership with Natural England under a Countryside Stewardship Agreement, renewed from January 2024. This agreement ensures that the Charity is able to continue its environmental work until at least 2028.

The vast majority of this work is devoted to improving the diversity of habitat on the Common. Our aim here is to provide a mosaic of vegetation which allows all heathland features to flourish, including pioneer heath and bare ground which benefits rarer invertebrates, birds, reptiles and plants. In recent years, nightjars and nightingales returned to the Common and there have been at least five calling male nightjars - an unusual and distinctive churring trill.
If cattle or sheep were able to roam freely across the Common as they did many years ago, the more invasive species would be kept in check and a greater diversity of vegetation maintained. But nowadays the number of walkers with dogs would mean that any livestock would have to be fenced in. That would then destroy the free-roaming, unenclosed nature of the landscape which is the essence of a Common.